Chicago White Sox Make Unsurprising Decision With Luis Robert Jr.
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From the moment the trade deadline passed, and the White Sox didn't receive an offer they deemed worthy of dealing Luis Robert Jr., general manager Chris Getz never moved off his stance.
"We anticipate him being here, we do," Getz said on July 31. "If we felt otherwise, maybe we go a different course."
So when news broke Tuesday morning that the White Sox would be picking up Robert's $20 million club option for the 2026 season, it was no surprise.
White Sox news: As expected, the team is picking up the $20 million option on Luis Robert for 2026.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) November 4, 2025
On the same night in July, Getz said he'll remain open-minded if a needle-moving transaction is to be made –– in this case, trading Robert. Picking up his option doesn't prohibit the White Sox from making a trade, but if an offer didn't meet their liking in July, what's different now?
Robert showed flashes of his 2023 All-Star self in the second half of the 2025 season, hitting .353 with a .990 OPS in July. He played at or near his 2020 Gold Glove form in center field all season, too, and stole a career-high 33 bases.
But a left hamstring strain limited his availability at times, then ended his season with about one month to play. That capped Robert's 2025 campaign at 110 games, a concerning trend in the 27-year-old's six-year MLB career, but not one that altered Getz's decision-making process.
"It doesn't really change anything. When he hurt his hamstring, we knew that was a possibility that there might be an injury that hits him or someone else," Getz said on Sept. 17. "But Luis has obviously proven that he can be an impactful player, and it doesn't need to just be in the box. He's still in a White Sox uniform. We anticipate him being in a White Sox uniform next year and continuing to strengthen our group up the middle."
Robert played 56 of 60 games in his covid-shortened rookie season in 2020, but across five 162-game seasons beginning in 2021, he's played in just 521 of 810 possible games, or 64.3%. In four of those five seasons, he's played in 110 games or fewer.
Robert's ability at the plate, in the field and on the base paths is enticing, and there's no surefire prospect to immediately fill his place. That could eventually be the team's No. 1 prospect Braden Montgomery, but he's played just one professional season so far and may end up being a corner outfielder.
The White Sox may also fear that letting Robert walk for nothing in free agency, or trading him for low-level prospects, would be a waste of talent. At the same time, Robert's inconsistency and injury history are factors that add some level of risk to picking up his $20 million option and making him likely the highest-paid player on the team in 2025.
Whether that money would be better spent elsewhere can be debated, but for now, the White Sox appear intent on trying to get the best out of Robert as the rebuild continues in 2026.
"We feel like we're continuing to strengthen the infrastructure on the hitting side," Getz said. "We're not quite there yet. We're going to continue to exhaust our efforts and establishing ourselves as a top hitting environment."
"That's a big part of this offseason and the coming years and we feel like Luis Robert is going to be a part of that and he's really going to benefit with having the resources and the support that's needed, and most importantly he's a talented player. Elite bat speed, elite foot speed, this is a player that we feel like has a lot of great days ahead of him."
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Jack Ankony is the beat writer for “Chicago White Sox on SI.” He has been with the Sports Illustrated network since 2022. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism in 2022. Follow Jack on Twitter @ankony_jack
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